Page 26 of Maybe You

I nod and yawn and squeeze my eyes shut for a moment to get rid of the yawn-tears.

Remy chuckles softly when he looks at me, somehow exasperated and affectionate at once. “Go to bed, kid.”

Remy’s been calling me kid ever since I landed on his doorstep all those years ago. He took me in, he put a roof over my head, and he’s treated me like family ever since.

I can never repay him for everything he’s done for me.

“You should follow your own advice, you know,” I say as I push myself off the desk. “Jordan will fly into Dad-mode if you don’t, and you know it.”

That can-never-repay-him thing? It applies to Jordan too.

Where Remy is mostly stoic and not prone to overreact to anything, Jordan, in comparison is overprotective to the max. Especially when it comes to Remy and Theo. And me, too.

“Bed, then,” Remy says, then gets up with a familiar groan.

I help him put his tools away and straighten everything up before I turn off the lights.

He squeezes my shoulder when I pass him on my way up the stairs, and I smile at him.

This is home.

So why I spend the next few hours staring at the dark ceiling of my bedroom, not sleeping, feeling restless as hell, is anybody’s guess.

SIX

When I get to work on Thursday, Sutton is nowhere to be found. The whole building is dark and empty, and the door is locked. Not that it shouldn’t be locked seeing that Sutton, as far as I know, doesn’t have a key. Thing is, when I get inside, it’s also dark and quiet there.

I stand by the front desk for a second and listen.

Nothing.

“Hello?” I call out.

I don’t think I’ve ever called out anything here, and my voice sounds all loud and weird, so I snap my mouth shut and refrain from further yelling.

For fuck knows what reason, I peek into the changing rooms and also take a look into the pool area. And then, because I’m an idiot, I also look outside at the second pool, which isn’t even filled with water yet, seeing that it’s still too cold for swimming there.

And yeah, as expected, it’s empty.

I stalk back inside.

He managed two more days than I initially expected.

Good for him.

I clearly underestimated him.

I roll my eyes and get to work.

It’s weird how quiet everything is. Really fucking weird. Did I bring my earbuds with me like I usually do? Of course not. I didn’t exactly expect to need them tonight, did I?

And the silence really is super fucking annoying.

So I start to hum while I scrub. By the time I get to the mopping, I’m singing. I’m not good. I don’t think anybody would really appreciate my versions of classic rock’s greatest hits, but who cares? It’s just me here, and I’m kind of getting into it. Turns out a mop handle makes for a good pretend microphone.

I’ve just finished my best rendition of “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” when I almost jump out of my skin because somebody starts clapping.

I whirl around.

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